by
Patrick Ogungbola
MD/ CEO, BLUEHEDGE REALTORS
Happy New Month!!! We welcome you to this beautiful month of February.
Of a truth, January 2020 has become history, and February 2020 is here, presenting us with a blank new chapter. The time will forever continue to tick and the year will continue to advance, but the question is, ‘are we also advancing with time?’. In life, we are either moving forward or going backward, because stagnancy (staying in the same position) is a sign of retrogression. The greatest resource God has given to everyone in equal proportion, irrespective of class, race, nationality, background, etc is time, and how we utilise it will determine who we eventually become. May God give us wisdom to use our time judiciously.
This month’s article is centred on the question ‘What is Life?’. Many people always seek an answer to this question, that is ‘what is really the essence of this life?’. We found ourselves in this ‘beautiful’ world by reason of birth, then we were enrolled in schools (for those that are privileged; education is still a privilege in this part of the world). After graduation, we seek for a good job or start a business, then we start a family, we strive for career advancement or business expansion, and finally, people will start leaving one after the other (just as we came) by reason of death. And mind you, all the things that has been acquired through struggle and labour will be left behind! Now, we ask again, ‘What is really the essence of life?’
Many of us are so much engrossed with ‘what to achieve’, ‘how to achieve them’, ‘how to attain the highest academic and professional titles’, ‘how to fulfill our life dreams and ambitions’, and other similar life achievements that we pay little or no attention to what really matters most – what happens after we are no more (our afterlife). Please don’t misunderstand me, it is very good to achieve greatly in this world, but it is much more important to ‘work on’ our afterlife. This may not be a popular article, neither was it intended to be so. We all try as much as possible to dodge this kind of subject; we don’t even want to think about it because we feel ‘we’re still very young and full of life’. The truth is that this is a subject this writer found very difficult to write. It is easier and more relaxing to write about ‘how to make more money’, ‘the secrets of living longer and never grow old’, ‘how to live a successful life’, ‘the best investment that can guarantee you 250% return on investment’, we know these are what people want to read. But whether we like it or not, the only thing that is certain about life is death; every living thing must die! We can’t escape it, and what we can’t escape, we must adequately plan for.
On Sunday, January 26, 2020 (just few days ago), we got a shocking news on the sudden death of one of the most prominent basketball players the world had ever known – Kobe Bean Bryant, who died during a helicopter crash at the age of 41, along with his 13-year old daughter, Gianna and seven others. Bryant was reported to have been a star at the Lakers for about two decades before he retired. LeBron James, one of the living legends in basketball who just broke Bryant’s record wrote the below tribute:
“I literally just heard your voice Sunday morning before I left Philly to head back to LA. Didn’t think for one bit in a million years that would be the last conversation we’d have.”
It’s really so sad, Bryant died that same day, after congratulating LeBron on the record-breaking achievement. Hmmm! Death does not announce when it will comes, hence, the need to be ready-prepared, it is inevitable.
In the same vein, the memory of the great Bahama preacher, Myles Munroe who also died at the age of 60 in a plane crash in 2014 comes to mind. Announcing his death, Independent News said:
“Munroe and his entourage were travelling to Grand Bahama to attend the 2014 Global Leadership Forum that he organised. He had planned to have dinner in Freeport about 90 minutes after his plane’s scheduled arrival with the US’s former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young. Munroe’s wife, Ruth, was also on the plane, along with his daughter and his second-in-command at Bahamas Faith Ministries, Richard Pinder, as well as the group’s youth ministers, Lavard and Rudel Parks, and their young son Johannan (https://bit.ly/38V0YW3).
Hmmmm! Munroe had planned a Leadership programme and also a dinner with a dignitary, but he couldn’t make it. Indeed, death is no respecter of persons.
We know other prominent world figures who have died, such as the former South African President, Nelson Mandela who died at the age of 95 after suffering from a prolonged respiratory infection. The news of Nelson Mandela’s death and burial was widely televised by CNN and other news media for close to a week, and what happened thereafter? Life continues!
As people, we must realize that we are ‘mere’ mortal, only God is immortal. This should make us to be humble and also set our priorities right to what really matters. It should also make those of us who are still alive to value life and appreciate each passing day.
The wisdom here is to plan and prepare for anything that is not within our control. A wise man once said that we must begin to set the right priorities from the moment we know when we’re to die. We know that we will all die someday but the irony is that we don’t know when. We all wish to grow to a very old age before we exit, but we know that people ‘escape’ at different periods. Great personalities (people of timber and calibre) have died, and the world has not ended, let’s be careful! People may sing our praise, give us various awards and titles; do you deserve an accolade? Don’t worry, they will give you plenty of it, but what happens when one is gone? The person suddenly becomes insignificant and irrelevant to the praise singers and awarders, and their attention will be directed towards other ‘living’ people. We must not get carried away by what people are saying about us, we should be much more concerned about what God is saying.
Almost every religion believes about life after death, and our relationship with God, our creator is of utmost importance in this regard. What happens when we die depends on what happens before we die, in other words, our after-life is dependent on our before-life. God should be involved in all we do; we should acknowledge Him in all we do and He shall direct our paths.
In conclusion, someone advised that we should take a moment to calculate the number of days you have lived so far, and then take a guess as to how many more days you expect to live. Then ask, ‘what is the most eternally profitable way you can spend your remaining days? Then, start living such life now!
Let’s remember the greatest question ever asked by the greatest man that has ever lived:
“For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul” – Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36).
Indeed, death is not final; there is Life after death! I believe this and I hope you too. May we all be witnesses and partakers of God’s heavenly kingdom (Amen).
We wish you the very best of the month of February 2020.
As usual, we want to once again remind you that we care so much about you, and that when it comes to your real estate investment and advisory, we are always here to give you the very best service you can never get elsewhere. This is our promise, and will always be.
Meanwhile, please find below the powerpoint presentations of our current properties for sale in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Thank you.
Affordable Properties For Sale in LAGOS, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in ABUJA, FCT, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, Nigeria
